Click on the children's names to read their reflections about our Summer Safety Days and view their slideshows. We had fun and lots of learning went on. Our thanks to the Rotorua Aquatic Centre staff, Rob from DOC, the staff at Waikite Hot Pools and the fabulous Life Guards from Mt Maunganui Surf Lifesaving Club who gave up their time to teach us these skills. A big thank you also to all the parents who accompanied us - without you we wouldn't be able to have these Out of Classroom Experiences!!

The Year 6's have had a really busy few weeks. In Week 4 we had three full on days learning about Summer Safety, on Tuesday we went to learn about Surf Safety at the Mt Maunganui Surf Lifesaving Club. We had a great day learning lots about how to keep safe. On Wednesday we tramped up Rainbow Mountain and learned about bush safety and then had a relaxing swim at the Waikite hot pools. On Thursday and Friday different groups learned about Lake Safety at the Aquatic Centre in Rotorua. We had a fun, exhausting week and most of all we learned how to Keep Safe in Summer!

On Wednesday 16th September room 2 went to plant trees at The Redwoods for Conservation Week.

First of all we were talked to about The Redwoods by Julianne who was the person who organized the trip for us. I learned that there were around 150 different species of trees in The Redwoods and that The Redwoods is a plantation forest which means that it is man-made and planted by humans and some of the trees are exotic which means they are not native. I also learned that an ECO system is when the environment and animals interact with and sustain each other. Next a man called Ian told us about the birds that we could hear and that he could listen to them and recognize their call. He called it watching with your ears. The birds around us that Ian heard were the Chaffinch, the Bellbird, Tui, Grey Warbler, Tom Tit and the Wood Pigeon (Kereru) which they call the B52 bomber because it can transport seeds around the forest by swallowing them and then dropping them around the forest. The next person who talked to us was a man called Mark who taught us how to plant trees. First he dug a hole just deep enough so that the trunk was sticking out of the ground. Then he took the bag off the roots of the tree and put fertilizer in the hole that he dug as well as the soil that he dug up. Next he teased the roots of the tree by rubbing some of the dirt off the roots of the trees, putting the tree in the hole and filling the rest of the hole up with the soil that he dug up. Lastly he watered the tree with half a bucket of water.

After that we got to have a go at planting some trees and Connor and I planted 7 trees while we were there.

After all of the trees were planted we put mulch over all of the ground to help the trees grow. We had to gently lift the trees branches and leave up to put the mulch underneath the tree. The trees that we planted were The New Zealand Fusia, Gravilla, Kowhai and Lancewood. The purpose of planting trees outside the visitor centre was to attract birds since they like those particular trees for their nectar, leaves and bugs which fantails usually go for.

Over-all we planted 200 – 250 trees on the day. I thought that it was fantastic!